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May 25, 2007

Springtime for ThatKid In Germany (And Paris): Three (3) Things About Munich (And Paris)

I mean, at the end of the day, it's all Western Europe, right...?

I knew something was up when I got off the plane from Dubai the other day and immediately felt like I was home again. (If that doesn't seem to make sense, I spent half a day in Munich before heading the Budapest for the weekend, and then another two days there at the beginning of the week.) Yes yes, I'm not remotely from Germany, and yes yes, it's a completely different culture, but, you know, it's still the developed world -- and one of the tidier representatives thereof at that! You can drink the water, things happen on time, and transactions are conducted in something approximating real currency.

I also think the fact that I'd spent a bit of time in Germany last summer had rendered the place a bit more familiar than it may have otherwise been. But I gottatellya, Germany felt very very comfortable. I was in Munich for a few days for work before heading on to Paris for the past two days. Munich was one of the cities in Germany that I hadn't yet visited. Lovely town. It's no Berlin, mind you, but it did the trick. And it didn't hurt that we had amazing weather and some excellent hospitality.

That at least balanced out the parts where I had to eat German food at multiple meals (for which my digestive tract is still bitter; but what can you do when your hosts plop an inch-think/ plate-sized slab of glorified liverwurst -- they called it "livercheese" --in front of you and demand that you eat/ enjoy it? Still, I did find my way into another Doner Kebab earlier in the week).

And then there was Paris. Oh hell yeah. Everything they say about Paris in the spring is 115% correct. It's an amazing city to start with, but spring really pushes it over the top. I could live in Paris. And I don't speak more than 27 words of French (though, in my defense, I do a really terrible job pronouncing them).

I was going to do separate entries for Munich and Paris, but it's been a long trip, and I spent the entire flight back to EWR working (boooo!), and the flight back to SEA dozing (needed). So you're getting a Western-Europe-though-they-kind-of-fought-in-a-big-war-pretty-recently mashup on ThatKid.

Three (3) things about Munich and Paris:

1. An alarming predilection for boring suburbs: so I work for this company, you probably heard of it, that very famously has its headquarters in the suburbs, so much so that folks around the world know the name of the heretofore sleepy farmtown that it's chosen to call home. Usually I like traveling to field offices because those office tend to be in actual cities in other countries -- you know, all civilized and cosmopolitan-like. Except in Germany.

In Germany, our office (which is gorgeous, mind you, and the Xboxes in the lobby not only work but also offer Guitar Hero on LCD screen) is in this ridiculously quiet suburb. There's nothing there except for other suburban office parks and a McDonald's. Also small tract housing and some bike paths. And we were staying a kilometer from the office. I dunno. A little sleepy for my tastes. Next time I'll know better.

2. Why Don't I Live In Paris?: I had never spent anything more than a blurry day or two in Paris, and I really didn't have a sense for how great a town it was. Yes yes, I know it sounds naive, but hey, I was naive. They've sure done a bang-up job with the buildings and culture there, huh? I felt like a complete goober walking around snapping photos for two days, but there was just so much good stuff there. If I had a single complaint, it would be the overwhleming scent of urine that permeated a solid 15 percent of the town (and, rather curiously, the interior of our office in one of the hallways). And I can't say that I didn't know where it was coming from, since I spotted no fewer than three dudes peeing in public in just under 48 hours in town. I guess humans enjoy the same rights as canines in France, and are empowered to piss wherever they like!

I might also reiterate that Paris, and Western Europe more generally, is just ridiculously expensive to Americans right now. The dollar is just getting crushed, and Paris isn't cheap to start with. The worst offense was the price of internet access at our hotel is Paris. If you were content with a fixed-wire connection, the price was 23 Euros for 24 hours. Gulp. That's about $31 at today's exchange rate. If you wanted wireless access, that's going to run you -- wait for it -- 35 Euros. That's right, about $47 in USD for 24 hours of wireless internet: roughly what I pay per month for web access at home. That's just vulgar profiteering from the hotel. BOOOOO.

3. Because I Can't Help It: dragged some coworkers to a restaurant/ bar for the Champions League Final on Wednesday night. I do have a fondness for watching the football abroad, and I was looking forward to catching the game in Paris. Ugh. If only the game wasn't such a disappointment. Talk about every stereotype about negative Italian football. With a collection of insanely gifted international superstars on the roster, Milan essentially decides to play counterattack football, which might have doomed them had they not scored on a completely sketchy deflection off miserably untalented cheater Pippo Inzaghi's arm at the end of the first half. After that, it was just hunker down and wait. Inzaghi was unbearable. All the sneaking around trying to scoot behind the defense, and the complete lack of initiative when he had the ball (essentially putting his hand into the defender's chest and waiting for the right moment to launch himself at the ground and commence writhing)...ugh. And then to have him score the winner -- unforgiveable. Just a horrible TV show as a result. For Liverpool, it was a shame that Gerrard just didn't have anything in his legs. He looked really tired out there. A shame, really. He had the chances, and he just didn't have the juice to finish them. I hope he gets some rest this summer.

And that's it.

Two weeks later, I'm back in C@L. My plants are looking great (thanks to anyone who helped out there!), and the sun is shining. My tallies for the trip:

Cities: Bangalore, Munich, Budapest, Paris.
Airports: Seatac, Amsterdam, Mumbai, Bangalore, Dubai, Munich, Budapest, Paris (CDG), Newark Liberty.
Airlines: Northwest, Jet, Air India, Emirates, Malev, Lufthansa, Air France, Continental.
Foreign Currencies: 4.
Doner Kebabs: 2.
Books consumed: 2.5 (got hung up in the middle of Guests of the Ayatollah near the end).
Food-bourne illnesses: 1.
Blog entries posted: 5 (including this one).
Photos posted: 119.
Videos posted: 2.

It's good to be home, though only briefly -- heading out to the Gorge tomorrow for Sasquatch (which we did last year as well). I hope they have Doner Kebab!

Posted by thatkid at May 25, 2007 12:29 PM under ThatKid

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